Tyson gambles on Vegas win

Television trucks bearing giant satellite dishes have taken up position by kerbsides and in car parks around an unprepossessing office in a part of Las Vegas where the neon lights don't shine.

They spew tangles of spaghetti-like cables across the pavement to camera crews who, even now, several hours before the action is due to begin, are focused on earnest commentators rehearsing carefully scripted ad-libs.

The media circus has rolled up in all its brazen glory, and for one night only it has established Mike Tyson as the biggest act in town.

His personal application to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a licence to box Lennox Lewis in the gaming capital of the United States on Saturday 6 April will be beamed live to an audience that simply cannot get enough of a man who has continually heaped shame on himself both in and out of the ring.

A panel comprising four men and one woman will hear submissions made by the 35-year-old and his managers.

They will then retire to cast their votes a little before midnight British time. A simple majority, for or against, will suffice. The result will feed those commentators with stories for weeks on end.

The only certainty is that the commission cannot win. They will be damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

Following so soon after Tyson dealt boxing yet another black eye by igniting a brawl with Lewis at a press conference in New York last week, it would seem incredible that there is even cause to debate whether the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world should climb between the ropes in Las Vegas or anywhere else.

In a letter printed by the Las Vegas Review Journal on Sunday one of Tyson's own kind, a fellow fighter by the name of Greg Page, begged the commission to reject the application.

"It is only a matter of time before someone is hurt or killed," he wrote. "With people such as Tyson running rampant, with no one to control him and Tyson not wanting to be controlled, it is only a matter of time."

Indeed, shots were heard in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino when it played host to the fight with Evander Holyfield in June 1997 which ended in uproar when Tyson bit off part of his opponent's ear.

It was estimated that the MGM lost millions of dollars as it was forced to close its gaming rooms in the resulting panic.

But here's a thing: the same MGM successfully bid £8.6 million for the perceived privilege of hosting Tyson-Lewis in three months' time.

Theirs is the ultimate gamble. Business in Las Vegas has been slack since the events of 11 September.

Thousands have lost their jobs as a result of the downturn in the gaming industry, and the hotel and casino owners have lost millions of dollars in income.

Never mind the status of Tyson against Lewis as a sporting event that will rival football's World Cup Final for global interest, as a business venture it is thought that the Las Vegas economy could benefit by as much as £300m as the heavy hitters from all walks of life make a bee-line for this extravagant desert oasis.

The pressure on the commission to give Tyson the green light will be immense, even though the issue is further clouded by a police investigation into a rape alleged to have been committed by the city's most infamous inhabitant that could result in formal charges being brought against the convicted rapist later this week.

Ominously for those who hope they have seen Tyson throw his last legal punch, commission member John Bailey asserted: "Charges alone do not equate to guilt. We are not a court of law. The NSAC is not charged with responsibility for adjudicating these kind of issues."

The commission have three options: accept Tyson's application, reject it, or approve it with the rider that it could be revoked if charges of sexual assault are brought against him.

Cynics, probably in the majority among those who have made careful observation of this whole sordid affair, believe that big business will score a knockout victory over sporting integrity tonight.

Their feelings are summed up best by another letter from the Review Journal. It reads: "Mike Tyson could walk into the hearing carrying a severed head, a pound of cocaine under his arm and kiddie porn in his back pocket and still he would be granted a licence.

"With millions of dollars at stake the commission will fold like a chaise lounge."

The writer concludes his angry missive: "I just hope they can live with their decision."